Hello, my 12-year-old spayed cat howls when I'm in the shower. I think it's separation anxiety, but as far as I know, he doesn't do that when I leave the apartment. I've tried bringing him into the bathroom with me, but the sound of the shower scares him. When I hear him, I yell for him and he settles down a little bit, but I don't know if my neighbors can hear him or be yelling for him. It stresses me out. I'm sure I should just ask the neighbors, but I rarely run into them and if they haven't noticed the noise, then I don't want them to start listening for it.
Any ideas? Thanks

sandyrivers

February 19th, 2012 06:27 AM

maybe try this...

if you saw your vet and ruled out any causes...
Maybe try giving your cat a treat while you are in the shower, this way, he will be occupied. Perhaps a special toy that you keep in a ziplock bag with a bit of catnip... you could give him this toy only when you go in the shower, that way he would associate showertime with fun time!
It's worth a try...

Or maybe try to coincide his feeding time with your shower time...

sandyrivers

growler~GateKeeper

February 21st, 2012 01:12 AM

Have you had recent blood & urine work done to rule out any health issues specifically HyperThyroidism? One of the 1st signs that some people may notice is yeowling.

Macriley

March 10th, 2012 02:11 PM

Thanks

Thanks for the responses. I did talk to his vet about it and he thinks it's just because he's older and lonely. I'm thinking of getting him a companion. In the meantime, however, I've been giving him a catnip toy when I'm in the shower and he doesn't miss me at all! It's great. I take it away when I get out, he's done with it then anyway and mellowed out as well.

sandyrivers

March 11th, 2012 10:33 PM

glad it worked!

Hi,

Well i'm glad the catnip toy works for your cat!
One of my cats, Airell, would not let go of me even in the shower...she would hop in with me when she was a kitten, it wasn't that she was lonely, (as she had her 2 brothers and her sister to keep her company, as well as her mother and my other cats Elphin and Tonali), it was just that she was REALLY attached to me and could not ''let go''...
I found that giving her a catnip toy did the trick. Airell is now almost 2 years old and dosn't need the catnip toy any more,but it was a great help when she was a kitten.